SOCIETIES FOR PUECHASE AND SALE 127 



Meeting by one delegate for each 100 farmers. The General 

 Meeting elects a Committee of representatives of 35 members. 

 This Committee appoints a managing director and a treasurer 

 and elects a Board of Directors consisting of chairman, vice- 

 chairman, secretary, and two other members. Members of 

 local societies are jointly and severally hable for the prompt 

 payment for goods supplied. The annual surplus is divided 

 among members in proportion to the value of feeding-stuffs 

 purchased by them after deducting 25 per cent, of the surplus, 

 which is paid into a sinking fund. 



A similar society for the islands, called " The Islands' 

 Co-operative Society for the Purchase of Feeding-stuffs," was 

 formed in 1901 with its seat in Copenhagen. The turnover 

 during the first year was £78,000, besides a smaller amount 

 for purchased artificial manures. During the year 1915-16, 

 90,000 tons of feeding-stuffs to the value of £1,050,000, and 

 4700 tons of manures to the value of £38,000 were suppHed to 

 members. The " members " are local societies which are 

 bound for a period of five years and sign a guarantee. Each 

 member, i.e. farmer, in a local society is bound to purchase all 

 his feeding-stuffs, up to the amount of 6 cwts. per cow, through 

 the local society, and local societies are bound to make all their 

 purchases through the central society. The general constitu- 

 tion of the society is Hke that of the Jutland society. The 

 same year a " Funen Co-operative Feeding- stuffs Company *' 

 was formed on similar lines, at Svendborg, which in 1915-16 

 suppUed 40,200 tons of feeding-stuffs to the value of £444,000, 

 and a " Lolland Co-operative Dairy Societies' and other Co- 

 operators' Joint Purchase Society," with a turnover in 1915-16 

 of £94,000. The latter society also supplies coal, seed, and a 

 few other commodities. 



These four societies for the supply of feeding-stuffs, together 

 with the Ringkobing district society, had, for the year ending 

 March, 1916, a total of 1230 local branches or societies, with 

 68,000 individual members, representing 463,000 cows, and a 

 turnover of £5,562,000. The surplus which in 1914-15 had 

 been 7J per cent, of the value of the goods supplied, was in the 

 year 1915-16 reduced to 4*8 per cent. 



Two more co-operative purchase societies were formed in 



